One of the biggest things we see holding back beginner DJs from getting started playing gigs is nerves. It’s hardly surprising – DJing in front of a crowd can be a pretty daunting prospect. It takes a lot of confidence to get up in front of a room full of people and perform. And when you’re the centre of attention, the pressure just gets ramped up, and all of a sudden, you start stressing over every mix and track selection.
But it’s not just new DJs who struggle with nerves. Pretty much everyone has dealt with this at some stage – even the big pros you’d expect to be completely calm behind the decks.
So how do you overcome these nerves? If you feel like this performance anxiety is holding you back from reaching your potential, we’re sharing some of what we’ve learned from years of experience in the DJ world and our personal tips for dealing with these nerves and feeling confident in the booth.
What If Something Goes Wrong?
Take a second to ask yourself, ‘what am I really afraid of here?’ Most of the time, the real answer is just uncertainty. There are a million different unknown variables and ‘what-ifs’ that run through our heads before a gig.
We’ve all got these nightmare scenarios in our heads where everything goes wrong. Maybe your laptop crashes, the CDJs don’t read your USBs, or you load a track onto the wrong deck. Suddenly in your head, you start spiralling into how terrible it could go – the crowd boos you out of the booth, the promoter blacklists you, and all of a sudden, your DJ career is over before it even really began.
Really, though, this is all in our heads. While bad things can and will happen, it’s actually pretty normal and is never as big of a deal as we make it out to be.
Every DJ has these sorts of moments where something goes wrong. Once you’ve spent some time in the booth, you’ll see plenty of mistakes and technical issues, even from experienced pro DJs. And most of the time, no one in the crowd notices – they’re too busy having fun and dancing to pay half as much attention to the mixing as you’d imagine. Even with probably the most infamous DJ mess-up of our times – Grimes at Coachella – most of the crowd didn’t even notice until she started stressing out and said something.
The key is to stay calm and have a backup plan for when (not if) things go wrong. Make sure you’ve always got a second USB just in case something goes wrong with your main one, or you lose it. Learning the basic troubleshooting procedures for whatever you use is also a good idea. You’ll need to know how to reset CDJs, rearrange cables and play music from a backup source like your phone if needed.
The main thing to remember, though, is that if something does go wrong, own it. Stay calm and confident – how you react to these sorts of challenges is a big part of what makes a great DJ.
Preparation Kills Nerves (But Don’t Over-Plan)
As we’ve said, a large part of why DJing can be so daunting is fear of the unknown. So, the biggest way to quash these fears is to have some plans in place.
We’d never advocate for completely planning out every beat of your set, however. That kills off any spontaneity and creativity so you won’t be able to make those all-important adjustments based on reading the vibe of the crowd.
However, just having the first few tracks and mixes planned out in your head can really help you settle into things. Start out with tracks you know work and you’re confident should get the crowd onside. Also, have a good idea how you’re going to transition in and out of these early tracks. Don’t try anything crazy right away, both in terms of leftfield track selection and adventurous mix techniques. Instead, just use these first couple of mixes to get into the rhythm of things.
It’s also generally a good idea to be overprepared in terms of your tracks. Make sure you’ve got multiple playlists and a few different vibes on your USB – if the crowd really isn’t going for what you’re playing at one point, having a backup selection to switch to could be a lifesaver.
You also want to make sure you know the gear you’re playing on like the back of your hand before you turn up to the gig. You don’t want to be in the middle of a mix looking for a specific control like looping and not know where it is. If you’ve got a controller at home and your gig is on CDJs, we’d always recommend spending plenty of time getting to grips with these beforehand.
If you want to learn how to use CDJs before your next gig, our CDJ masterclass is perfect for you. If you’ve been on a controller but you’ve been a bit intimidated by making the step up to pro-level CDJs, we’ll take you step-by-step through everything you need to know to feel comfortable performing incredible mixes on club-standard equipment.
10 hours 31 lessons Intermediate
Pioneer CDJ Masterclass
The Mic Struggle
One of the biggest struggles many DJs have is the dreaded microphone. Now, this isn’t even going to be a concern for a lot of DJs – if you’re playing an underground techno night, the last thing the crowd wants is an obnoxious DJ getting on the mic and telling them to jump. But for event or wedding DJs and anyone doing mainstream club nights, it’s a pretty essential skill.
The first mic shout is always going to feel terrible. Ease into it and start with small announcements and shout-outs. A good tip is to practice speaking over music at home and even record and listen back to yourself doing it. This will probably be pretty agonising at first, but you’ll get used to it and get over some of the discomfort before doing it for real in the club.
Pre-Gig Rituals
DJs can be a pretty superstitious bunch sometimes. Like footballers or rockstars, DJs often love pre-show rituals to help get them in the right headspace beforehand. These sorts of things are all about making you feel more in control of the situation.
This is a highly personal thing, so we won’t go into exactly what this will look like for you. One thing we can find helpful, especially for calming nerves, is breathing exercises. This doesn’t have to be full-on Wim Hoff style stuff (although you may find that useful), but taking the time to concentrate on your breathing is super handy if you’re feeling anxious.
There’s also the more contentious issue of drinking before gigs. We’re not here to preach about the merits or drawbacks of a little liquid courage, but the thing to remember is to be sensible and not overdo it. If a beer helps take some of the nerves off, that’s ok, but remember you’ve still got a job to do, and you need to stay sharp.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to just think of nerves as some wholly negative force that’s going to completely derail your performance, but why not try flipping the script? The fact that you’re nervous in the first place shows that you care. It’s all coming from a place of passion and the fact you want the show to go well creates that energy – but there’s such a fine line between anxiety and excitement.
Ultimately though, the only real way to overcome nerves is through experience. The biggest difference between a confident DJ and a nervous one is just how often you’ve been there and done it before and know how to react if something goes wrong. To build that confidence, you’ve just got to keep showing up, playing and growing.
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